Dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorders in Dutch psychiatric inpatients.

METHOD

During a period of 12 months, 122 consecutively admitted adult psychiatric patients were screened with the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Patients scoring 25 and higher and a random selection of patients scoring lower than 25 were blindly interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders, Revised. Interviews were scored independently by a blind rater.

RESULTS

Ten (8%) of the 122 patients were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder; two (2%) were diagnosed as having a dissociative identity disorder. Two patients (2%) had factitious dissociative identity disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The rate of dissociative disorders in this group of Dutch patients is comparable to the rates reported in other European studies but lower than rates reported in North American studies.